Auditor general issue rises again
City council is going to reopen the thorny auditor general debate. On Monday night, newly elected Ward 10 Coun. Jim Morrison’s request for an administration report — providing details on the options, costs and benefits of having an independent financial watchdog — was approved without debate. “I do believe it could provide good value as well as cost savings,” the retired bank manager said after the council meeting. He is one of several new councillors who called for an AG while campaigning. It’s an issue that was hotly debated by the last council in 2015, when council ultimately ended up sticking with outside auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for $300,000 annually.
“I ran (unsuccessfully) in 2014 and supported an auditor general, and I ran in 2018 and I supported an auditor general, and I think it’s important that a candidate follow through with the commitment they made on the campaign trail,” said Morrison, who defeated incumbent Paul Borrelli in November. Borrelli was criticized for campaigning for a local auditor general but then not supporting one when he was elected.
Mayor Drew Dilkens said Monday he hasn’t seen a reason to change from the current auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose representatives updated council on their latest audits. Over the years, they’ve made 236 recommendations to tighten up the financial checks and balances based on the results from a regular progression of audits of city hall operations. “But there’s obviously an appetite on city council by many city councillors to have the discussion and maybe move in that direction,” Dilkens said. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ contract with the city still has two more years to run, and getting out of it early would likely require the city to pay penalties.
The mayor and Morrison both said there are likely three options: staying with the status quo; creating an auditor general position with a staff of city employees; and a hybrid where a city AG would be hired to oversee a private firm like PricewaterhouseCoopers. Dilkens said he expected the AG issue to rear its head again, since many candidates in the last election were in favour of one. But some people misunderstand what an AG’s powers and capabilities are, he said.
“So having the report come back to city council will hopefully provide clarity on that. We can hopefully remove the politics from the discussion ... and really get down to what’s best for residents.”